EBOR BRASS ENSEMBLE
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Archive news
Norwegian Visits June 2012
We will be joining forces with Lauvstad Musikkorps which is a small brass band from the west coast of Norway to stage a joint concert in Rowntree Park, York on Sunday 24th June while they are visiting the area to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
We are also in contact with a band from Stavanger, which is also in Norway and were hoping to arrange a concert with them when they visit York in September but unfortunately, a large proportion of our band are on holiday while they are here which makes it impossible.
It was quite a surprise to be contacted by one band from Norway but a second contact from an unrelated band which is 400 miles away from the first is unbelievable!
June 2012
We are proud and excited to be involved in this year's Brassed On Festival along with the bands from York Railway Institute / Golden Rail and Shepherds group brass bands
The Festival is part of the York 800 celebration and takes place in the Museum Gardens on 30/06/2012 and 01/07/2012.
We will be playing, along with the bands from York Railway Institute on Sunday 1st July 2012 from 12.00pm to 5.00pm. Our spot will be at approximately 12.45 and we will later join in with a short massed bands concert at 4.30ish. Why not pack a picnic and come along and listen? It's free!! There is a link to the Brassed On website on our links page
We joined forces with Lauvstad Musikkorps which is a small brass band from the west coast of Norway to stage a joint concert which should have been in Rowntree Park, York on Sunday 24th June while they are visiting the area to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Due to fllooding, the concert venue had to be changed to the steps outside the Castle Museum. Both bands performed very well and we were happy to join forces to play one piece of music together at the end of their set. Strong winds made for an interesting afternoon of playing hold the music stand and chase the music. They also joined us on Monday for a mass rehearsal which was thoroughly enjoyed by both bands. We are now hoping to arrange a return visit to Norway to see them next year
August 2012
Two of our band members (Sandra Pearson – Flugel Horn and Iain Fell – Trombone) are proud to have volunteered (and even happier to have been accepted) to be part of the band which is providing the musical support to over 600 actors in this year’s Mystery Plays. The plays are being performed in a huge 1400 seat purpose built auditorium in York’s Museum Gardens from 2nd August to 27th August. For more information and to buy tickets for this amazing event go to http://www.yorkmysteryplays-2012.com/
August 2012
This year is a very special year for our soprano cornet player, Dave Ventress. Dave has achieved the remarkable milestone of 50 (yes 50!!) years of service to brass banding. The photo below shows Dave being presented with a framed certificate from the Yorkshire and Humberside Brass Band Association by Ebor Brass founder Brian Henderson at one of our concerts in Parliament Street, York.
December 2012
The end of last year saw the retirement from playing of long-serving band member Mike Lucas due to health problems. Mike started playing aged 11 on the south coast of England and has played with several bands around the country before settling in York; he has been a stalwart member of Ebor Brass for over 20 years and has played virtually every instrument in the band during this time. In his early days with the band, he played euphonium and baritone and dabbled a bit on trombone. When his health deteriorated and he did not have the puff to fill the bigger instruments, he moved to tenor horn before finishing his playing career on cornet.
During the band’s leaner years, when we were short of players, Mike was well known for taking music home and rewriting his part to fill in the bits that were missing. His final comment to the band was that it was sad to have to leave when the band is so close to achieving a full complement of players and was improving rapidly.
Mike was presented with an engraved pocket-watch and a set of cufflinks in the shape of a cornet at his last practise at St. Barnabas Church, Leeman Road on 21st November 2012 by band founder Brian Henderson..
August 2013
Ebor brass founder and conductor celebrates 50 years service to brass banding this year. The photo shows Brian being presented with a certificate from the Yorkshire and Humberside Brass Band Association by lifelong friend and soprano cornet player Dave Ventress.
Brian started playing at the York Railway Institute when he was aged 11, where he was taught by the late Fred Holmes. When Fred retired, Brian "inherited" his teaching role and has taught 100's of budding musicians to play various brass instruments in the last 50 years including Craig Brown who was the Musical Director of last year's York Mystery Plays. For more details of Brian's musical career, please see our band History page
Ebor Brass joined forces with the White Star Band from Malton to play at the reception of Iain & Sandra (now Mr and Mrs Fell, who play with both bands. Both bands gave a fantastic 2 hour performance for guests at the reception on 3rd August. The newly weds also played individual solos and an unacompanied duet
October 2013
The end of last year saw the retirement from playing of long-serving band member Mike Lucas due to health problems. Sadly, Mike passed away peacefully in hospital at 1.10pm on Friday 4th October this year. During his last few days, Mike asked if the band could record a rehearsal of Suite Gothique, one of his favourite pieces of band music. We were pleased and honoured to be able to do this and also to send him 2 CDs and a DVD of previous performances which he listened to whilst in hospital.
Mike started his long playing career at the age of 11 on the south coast of England and played with several bands around the country before settling in York. He joined our band soon after and was a stalwart member of Ebor Brass for over 20 years, during this time, he played virtually every instrument in the band. In his early days with Ebor Brass; he played euphonium and baritone and dabbled a bit on trombone. When his health deteriorated and he did not have the puff to fill the bigger instruments, he moved to tenor horn before finishing his playing career on cornet. Mike was a true bandsman, always putting the needs of the band first. He appreciated that all parts within a band are of equal importance and would play any part he was asked to, even if it was what some players would think of as a step down. His final move was from Solo Horn to 3rd cornet to allow a newcomer to take the Solo Horn seat. Even after this change, he would occasionally move forward to the Solo Cornet bench when the regular solo players were not available and then happily slip back to his normal slot when they returned.
During the band’s leaner years, when we were short of players, Mike was well known for taking music home and rewriting his own part to fill in others that were missing. His music often resembled a mosaic, with various hand written bits stuck to the printed parts. After Mike was presented with an engraved pocket-watch and a set of cufflinks in the shape of a cornet when he retired from playing in November last year, his final comment to the band was that it was sad to have to leave when the band was so close to achieving a full complement of players and was improving rapidly.
The band will played their final farewell to Mike with a short selection of his favourite music at his funeral on 22 October at West Thorpe Methodist Church, Dringhouses.
Ebor Brass was proud to be able to provide a small band of 5 musicians to accompany the hymns and to play the Last Post and Reveille at the district war memorial near St. Barnabas Church on Leeman Road. The photo below shows Austin & Sheila Barnett (front row cornets) and Sandra Fell (Flugel horn) at the memorial.
